Chapter 17

Joker was passing by the penthouse, focused on his own things, but raised his eyebrows at the scene in front of him. They hadn't dressed up for the club, despite Jaylie's constant nagging the whole week to get to run a deal by herself.

"You look glum," he commented.

Jaylie was sitting sullen and miserable in the living room, while Silence of the Lambs was muted on the flat screen. She had been out with Harley and Ivy when Harley decided to break into a jewelry store. During their messy getaway from security, much delayed by Ivy's urge to attack every person she saw, Jaylie skipped a few stairs and fell down the rest of the flight, landing on her hands. Something in her wrist said crack, and it had been in a strange angle ever since.

Harley rose from her side to welcome him back. "Can ya help me cheer her up, Puddin'? I told that guy with the flesh suit to look at it but she bit him. Didn't we have another nurse-man?"

Joker shrugged. "Might have lost him in the spring clean."

Pressing an ice-bag to her swollen wrist, Jaylie squinted suspiciously at him when he approached.

"If ya don't get the bones in order, you can forget using that hammer of yours."

Her eyes widened, then moved backward on the floor when he waltzed over to her. "Lemme see."

"You're not a doctor –" she began, but he reached out for her arm without further do. Reluctantly she let him, knowing there was no use in resisting. When she was younger and injured herself by playing with sharp objects he would sometimes patch her up himself, if she bit their nurse-henchman hard enough.

She winced when he poked her bruised skin. It didn't take anyone smarter than Panda Man to figure out that it was broken, probably right off. Joker tssk-ed. Only amateurs fell on their hands, hadn't Harley taught her to tuck-n-roll with all that gymnastic crap they'd been doing? She could be embarrassingly bad at getting away from the law sometimes.

"Ya know, I coulda been a doc," he told her. "I'm really good at op-era-ting."

That didn't get any reaction out of her, not even a glare. Her face had turned a shade of grey. Not wanting her to retch on the floor that just had been waxed, he got Frost to call in one of the actual doctors on their paylist, then dropped her a few pills of Codeine on his way out – not trusting the entire bottle anywhere around Harley. She just might try to give the kid a few too many in a well-meaning attempt to make her feel better.

He made a mental note about the plant witch, to deal with her later. This running around was starting to get on his nerves.

.

Lately, Jaylie had started leaving the penthouse on her own, rarely asking Harley to accompany her. They trusted good ol' Frosty and the feral dog to handle that, but they were both curious in their own way about what she was doing whenever she wasn't shadowing them or sitting around at home.

One morning, she was about to leave again. Harley was lying on the couch, her head resting on the Joker's thigh, as they both faced the TV where GCN was on, but neither paying any attention. The Joker was texting and Harley blew bubble gum, adjusting a bracelet on her hand.

"What's up with all this running about, sweetie-pie?"

"Business." Jaylie shrugged, causing the Joker to snort.

"But we were gonna go shopping today!" With a pout, Harley lifted her head and made a come-hither movement.

"Zoe's waiting."

"Tell her hi from me!"

"Just don't lead the little sheep astray," Joker told her with a half-grin.

Jaylie was already on her way out, ignoring them. Harley crawled up on her knees and pushed the Joker against the couch, capturing his attention at last. She straddled him and nibbled at his bottom lip when he pulled her closer. "I bought some puddin', Puddin'. The one you like."

.

She met Zoe at their secret place, not far away from the shopping mall. Jaylie had decided to see her again, and it wasn't hard to find out where any civilian lived in this place. Zoe had wanted to get more information about her dad, and thus they had ended up spending time together during the last weeks. Jaylie had never spent time with anyone her own age before, and Zoe was… interesting. She was fun to scare but even funnier to impress.

"I don't know where Dad is." Zoe kicked the ground in front of her. "He's not in that Belle Reve, but I haven't heard from him."

"I can ask Frosty. He can find out anything about anyone."

"Can you do that?" Zoe looked pleadingly at her. Lucifer walked by her side, having accepted her presence.

"I can."

Zoe sighed. "He would be mad if he knew we're friends. He'd prefer mom's boyfriend."

It sounded strange, friends. But she liked the word. She's our friend, Lucy giggled in her head. Jaylie studied her face for a moment. "You wanna go shoplift?"

"I can't do that! I'd get in so much trouble."

"At least we'll have fun. You're so gloomy, Zo-ey."

"Another time." Zoe looked strange, and it wasn't for the bruises that sometimes shifted on her arms and even on her jaw.

Jaylie shrugged, then handed her a bag, the same one she had stolen from the mall the first time they met. "From the hard-working citizens of Gotham."

"Did you steal it?" Zoe looked way too shocked every time, and it was funny.

Jaylie looked dead-serious at her. "Drug money."

"No." Zoe hugged her, suddenly, and Jaylie stiffened at the contact. "Thank you. It's nice."

"I want candy." Jaylie walked out into the street, making a car halt with screeching tires to avoid running her over. Zoe and Lucifer followed behind, half-running, while the driver pulled down the window and yelled profanities at them. Zoe was half in shock, half-laughing when she caught up to her. "Did you see his face?"

Jaylie giggled, then pointed at her favorite candy store.

She had been there with Harley many times before, just as many times as they had been to the dentist. The reason she had not got a ban was probably that the owner had had Harley's gun in her face too many times to really care. When they had bunkered up on candy Jaylie paid, not because she really had to but to not scare Zoe again, and because it was funny to watch the shock on her face when she placed a 100-dollar-bill on the counter.

They ate candy, and then went to Zoe's mother's apartment. No one was rarely at home during daytime, and they could be on their own, enjoying the silence in a way Jaylie wasn't used to. During the weeks they had spent time together, she had shown Zoe horror movies she'd never been allowed to watch and how to shoplift without being caught, while Zoe showed her favorite music and how to cross the street properly. She signed Jaylie's cast, where there was space left after Harley's overly ornamented scribbles and the Joker's signature.

Sometimes, she followed Jaylie home too. She had been scared at first, but not terrified. She showed her around the building they currently resided in, the different floors connected through hidden stairways and elevators. The henchmen's common space was a perfect place for pulling pranks, sneaking around and scaring them. Things were so much less boring when Zoe was around.

One day when they were looking for something new to do, moping around the henchmen floors without finding anyone to mess with, they found a pack of beer left by a table. Jaylie opened it, just to see what kind it was. There was also a bottle of something else that neither of them recognized.

"Is that good?" Jaylie asked, tired of flavored soda.

Zoe shrugged. "My mom likes it."

Jaylie opened two cans of beer and gave one to Zoe, before pouring the other liquid in some glasses she found. It smelled strong and had a light yellow color. She had seen her parents drink whiskey, but if they found her touching any of it, even for flammability research, she got in deep trouble.

Zoe raised the beer can and they had a toast, Jaylie with concentration and Zoe hesitant but curious. They drank and grimaced.

"This is awful." Jaylie looked at it for a moment.

"Why did you even have it down here?"

"The henchies get really drunk sometimes." Jaylie took another sip. "And then they play poker."

"Aren't your parents gonna be mad?"

"No idea." Harley wouldn't let her be down here when the henchmen were drinking, but they weren't here now so it didn't count. Jaylie finished half the can, then laughed at Zoe's face, her Lucy side showing through and taking over. "I bet you can't finish it."

"I can!" Not wanting to chicken out, Zoe took another sip, then picked up the glasses with the other liquid. She handed one to Jaylie. "What about this?"

They ended up spitting out most of the yellow drink, having a competition of who could finish most of it. A while later they were giggling, leaning into each other when Zoe's phone vibrated. She looked at it. "Mom's calling. I should go home."

"No, not yet." Jaylie giggled at the sound of her voice, reaching out to catch her arm. "Stayy, Zoeey. I like it when you're here."

Zoe tugged at her arm. "Come on, Jay-Lu. My mom's gonna be mad."

"That's not my name!"

"Sure, Luuucy."

"Shhh, it's a secret. No one can ever know." Jaylie put her finger to her mouth, getting up to escort her out so that Zoe wouldn't run into any unsuspecting henchman. They passed by two on their way out, and left almost in hysterics over Eyeball Suit.

When Zoe had left, Jaylie's legs felt heavy and her head swam when she rode the elevator to the top floor. She almost stumbled into the entrance of the penthouse.

Giggling to herself, she stumbled on the door mat. "Place! Good dog!" She praised the mat, before navigating through the various objects clogging up the room. A load of unfolded clothes seemed really inviting to sleep on, even the weapons discarded next to them. She reached out for something to keep her balance, not sure what she was stepping on, and her hand found nothing but thin air.

Confused, she looked around, wondering where the wall went.

"Honey pie?"

The voice made her look up and see her parents, entwined on the couch in a way that normally would make her go straight to her room, but they were both staring at her.

The part of her that was Lucy waved at them. "Hi."

Harley's head turned slightly to the side. The Joker was expressionless, his eyes narrowed.

She raised her hand to wave but forgetting half-way if she had already done so, staring at them before breaking out in a giggle. She had never seen them look so funny, like fish out of water. Her face was warm and the floor seemed so inviting. She had just decided to float into it when Harley suddenly was by her side.

"Baby, watcha doin'?" Her voice was too shrill, too close. "Who gave you something? Tell Mommy and I'll gouge their eyeballs out!"

She blinked once or twice, trying to pull back from her so she could go to sleep. The world was turning and the Joker lifted her up, ignoring her feeble attempts to get away.

The next thing she knew her head hit a pillow and she was in her bed, but his hand gripping her face forced her awake again.

She recognized the warning in his voice. "And what have you been up to, Pumpkin?"

"Zoe and I were just drinkin' –"

Harley's voice cut through the haze: "Zoe! I need to have a word with her daddy!"

The Joker ignored her. "And where did ya find that?" She felt fingertips on the side of her uninjured wrist and tried to swat his hand away, turning her head into the pillow, but his grip hardened.

"We just borrowed it- " She giggled sleepily. "Eyeball is so funny."

He let go of her, leaving a dull ache behind. "You are on house arrest."

Her angry protest got muddled when the sleep wrapped her up.

.

She woke up with a headache. Stretching her body, she sat up and saw Lucifer sleeping by the edge of her bed, with a thoroughly chewed piece of tie next to him. Curiously she leaned out of bed to find more traces of a suit strewn across the floor.

Immediately feeling more alert, she rolled out of bed, pushing Lucifer to the side. She decided to go on a hunt to find her phone, searching through her messy room and then following the scraps of fabric to the empty main room, seeing her phone left on a pile of assorted items, weapons and clothes. She was looking for her hammer when Frosty appeared in her doorway. His tone was reserved, even more so than usual.

"You can't leave. Boss' orders."

She turned at him with a devilish smile. "You can't stop me."

"J wanted me to tell you that if you leave the house, he will make you watch as he personally smashes your phone. Then he will lock you up. You know the drill. No wi-fi, no TV, nothing at all."

Frost sighed, rubbing his forehead. The smell of bleach had imprinted itself on his brain.

With a charming smile, Jaylie stepped closer, Lucy showing through. "You wouldn't snitch on me, Frosty. You know what happens to snitches in the underworld." She showed her teeth as her smile got wider. "No one likes them."

Tiredly, Frost held up his phone as a warning. He didn't even know what she did this time, only that both Boss and Quinn had been losing their shit. Usually, only Harley reacted to the kid's antics, and that was enough. He had caught something about a bottle of vodka, but that shouldn't be too strange for a kid who was practically raised inside a club.

Her smile turned into a deadly glare, a trick she had learned from her mother, but she looked far less intimidating with her small frame and messy hair. Her face was paler than usual, almost sickly.

"You're one hell of a kid," Frost muttered. She could still act out, and if she wanted to leave the penthouse he couldn't physically stop her.

She turned to stomp her way back to her room, but he stayed alert, not trusting her not to come up with a scheme to fool him. She was the daughter of two of the most unreliable persons on the planet, after all.

Maybe it was time to ask for a pay-rise.

.

"I wanna see Zoe."

The Joker gave her a glance, his hand twitched in annoyance. "Maybe I should have a little talk with her."

She glared back at him, standing across from his desk. Having spent a week inside the penthouse had put her in a terrible mood, and her Lucy persona had taken over completely. She carried around a knife instead of her hammer.

"I want a gun."

He rolled his eyes, looking at the blueprints in front of him. "You can't even hit a target straight from across the room. Your knife skills could give Jonny a run for his money."

With a sound of frustration, she threw the knife into the opposite wall. He made an oh really? face, about to throw her out of his office with force.

"If I had a gun I wouldn't have to be here."

He leaned back to look at her, his last patience slipping away. She was always pushing it these days. Like Harley, she had no self-preservation instinct at all and he was tempted to duct-tape her mouth and lock her into her room again.

"You're here because the second someone offers you something you want, you'll take it."

Her glare turned into confusion.

He stood up, walking over to her in a stance that made her fall silent. He stared her down, and his tone was low and smooth, the one she connected with the club and the smell of blood.

"Harley was the same, back in the day." His hand landed on the top of her head and she felt the weight of it. "When Harley-darley wanted a drink, she got herself drugged half of the time. She got herself locked away–" he used his other hand to demonstrate the absurdity of the situation –"because she forgot she couldn't swim. Before she got smarter. And you, you got yourself snatched up like the baby you are-" His grimace was scornful.

She always got mad at him for calling her that, but now she remembered. She remembered The Rules and all the times she had been taken away by people who wanted a ransom for her life. Other times they didn't even want a ransom, they just wanted her dead, and she had scars left from that.

She knew. She had made herself vulnerable, and she wasn't. She was the predator, like them. Zoe was vulnerable, but she was learning. Robin was vulnerable, and he was just stupid.

"Now," his hand moved from her head to grasp her chin, making her unable to turn her face away. She didn't move, listening the way he expected her to. "Are you gonna get smarter?"

He was giving her a choice and she looked up at him.

"Yes, Daddy."

"Good answer." His fingertips caught some of her hair, tugging at it, but his expression changed, and she knew she was not off the hook. "A little birdie told me there's been a mini-Batsy running around in town. Ya don't happen to know why?"

She tried to keep her expression smooth, poker-faced like his, but he caught something in it. "Hmm?"

"I need to keep him alive for a while."

He snorted, half-amused, and she saw he didn't believe her.

"It's a part of a game," she emphasized. "Let him be, Daddy." She gave him the same look she had learned from him, yet the feeling of being at a disadvantage made her hands itch to hit something, to take apart. Getting Harley involved was usually the only real weapon she had to get her way if he wasn't in a particularly good mood to be charmed.

It made her in an even worse mood to feel powerless, and he knew it too, enjoying her frustration. His fingers curled around her locks of hair, playing with it as he thought. She waited, feeling her hand twitch for something.

He must have sensed this when he leaned in to nuzzle her hair for a moment. "If I wanted him dead, he'd be dead. So, go play."

A/N: Please let me know what you think, it would mean a lot to me.